Shreyas Iyer will captain India for the first time in ODI cricket in the final two matches of the series against New Zealand, after Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Anshul Kamboj left the squad to begin preparations for the two-Test series in Wellington.
Gill, Rahul and Kamboj were selected only for the first three ODIs of the tour, and with the Hamilton game washed out on Tuesday, their ODI duties for the series are over. Gill captained India to two wins in the first two matches, both decided by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, before the third game was abandoned without a ball being bowled. The three will now join the Test group in Wellington, where the first Test begins at the Basin Reserve on November 19.
Iyer, the full-time captain of India’s T20I side, has never led the team in the 50-over format before. He takes charge with India 2-0 ahead in the five-match series, needing one win from the remaining two games at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on November 13 and 15 to seal the series. Ishan Kishan will be his deputy and wicketkeeper.
Three players join the squad for the final two ODIs. Tilak Varma, the designated vice-captain of the T20I team, returns to the ODI fold, while fast bowler Yash Thakur and wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra have earned their maiden ODI call-ups. Kushagra provides a second wicketkeeping option alongside Kishan, while Thakur adds a fresh fast-bowling option to an attack that has already been reshaped on this tour by the emergence of Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi.
The rest of the squad stays intact from the first three matches. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain the senior batting pillars, with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Axar Patel and Naman Dhir in the middle order, and the bowling group of Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Brar and Nabi all available for selection. Siraj, who has yet to play in the series, will hope the reshuffle finally opens a place for him in the XI.
India’s squad for the 4th and 5th ODIs: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (vice-captain and wicketkeeper), Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wicketkeeper), Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav.
A win in either of the two remaining matches would give India a rare ODI series win in New Zealand, something they have not managed in seven years. The drawn third game already guarantees they cannot lose the series, with New Zealand able to do no better than level it at 2-2.
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